Le Vieux Donjon Châteaneuf-du-Pape 2008

A beautiful wine, the 2008 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape shows the best of the vintage with elegant, classy aromatics of ripe black cherries, garrigue, spiced meat, and solid underlying minerality. Fresh and complex on the nose (picks up a touch of mole sauce with air), the wine is medium bodied on the palate with a superb, pure, light texture, perfect balance, integrated acidity and a long finish. I tasted this once at the domaine (rated 91) and then followed a bottle over two days at home. It fails to truly impress right on opening but really comes into its own on the second day. I’m a fan and would opt to let bottles rest for 2 to 3 years before drinking over the following decade. Tasted three times.

By Jeb Dunnuck August 2010